:01:46. > :01:50.In this out: There has been gold in the Olympics already - the money
:01:50. > :02:00.being poured into the cultural side of things. But what happens to the
:02:00. > :02:00.
:02:00. > :29:23.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1642 seconds
:29:23. > :29:25.Welcome to Sunday Politics South - my name's Peter Henley. Coming up
:29:25. > :29:27.in the next 20 minutes: The Olympics aren't just about
:29:27. > :29:30.sport, there's also the Cultural Olympiad. Millions are being
:29:30. > :29:39.invested this year to showcase all manner of artistic endeavours - but
:29:39. > :29:47.what happens next year when all that Olympic gold has dried up?
:29:47. > :29:50.Let's meet our guests, Jo Lovelock and David Pugh. Now, is almost
:29:50. > :29:57.cultural business really cheering people up on the Isle of Wight?
:29:57. > :30:01.Well, there is still some distance to go. Jo Lovelock? I think it does
:30:01. > :30:06.cheer people up, having something to celebrate about. But Reading's
:30:06. > :30:12.economy compared with many other places, we still do have some
:30:12. > :30:17.issues. Youth unemployment is a big problem. It already looks like the
:30:17. > :30:23.2012 football final, Spain and Germany at each other's roads and
:30:23. > :30:30.the Bank of England saying there will be more money to lend. If they
:30:30. > :30:33.do, will that help? We hope that would enable some businesses to
:30:33. > :30:36.stay in business and do more than they are doing now, but
:30:36. > :30:43.fundamentally, people have to have money in their pockets to spend in
:30:43. > :30:47.order to make the businesses viable. So unless we have a recognition
:30:47. > :30:51.from the government that we need to have some investment that will lead
:30:51. > :30:58.to more jobs, I think it will be a very difficult road for a long time
:30:58. > :31:02.to come. However much optimism might be created, you need
:31:02. > :31:05.Investment. David? I think the money coming from the banks will be
:31:05. > :31:09.helpful and hopefully will help businesses to do more to increase
:31:09. > :31:13.jobs and productivity, but a lot of it still has to the public sector
:31:14. > :31:20.driven. Some of the work we're doing about schools and PFI
:31:20. > :31:24.infrastructure, that will help jobs and the growth of the economy.
:31:24. > :31:27.he is the latest idea. The right to buy your council house
:31:27. > :31:30.- it became an iconic Thatcherite policy, giving thousands of people
:31:30. > :31:33.the opportunity to get on the housing market that they otherwise
:31:33. > :31:37.wouldn't have had. One key element was the discount you got on the
:31:38. > :31:40.council house, which was a maximum of �38,000. The trouble is that
:31:40. > :31:43.with house prices having risen so sharply recently, 38,000 isn't that
:31:43. > :31:47.much of a discount. So the government's raising the limit to
:31:47. > :31:50.�75,000. On Friday, Portsmouth City Council signed up to the
:31:50. > :31:57.government's new scheme - joining me now is Steven Wylie, who's the
:31:57. > :32:03.cabinet member with responsibility for housing. Is this something you
:32:03. > :32:06.have done reluctantly? Well, the deal is not good for people because
:32:07. > :32:10.it is not one for one. This is how the government have been putting it
:32:10. > :32:15.out, but especially in our region. You mean, you sell a house you
:32:15. > :32:19.cannot build another? absolutely, not with the money.
:32:19. > :32:22.With a heavy heart, I had to say yes to the scheme because otherwise
:32:22. > :32:27.we would have got no money and someone else would have had this
:32:27. > :32:31.money to build homes or try and build some homes. And that was not
:32:31. > :32:40.fair to the people who are crying out for good family homes. So I
:32:40. > :32:50.said yes, with Cabinet, could -- with cabbie gets, because people
:32:50. > :32:53.
:32:53. > :32:57.need to be in cent devised. -- in centre buys. Idea may my government
:32:57. > :33:02.has listened to this. I think it was never the right way to go
:33:02. > :33:09.forward, the right to bite. Because it was always about individuals and
:33:09. > :33:15.not about the wider implications. People are buying houses but there
:33:15. > :33:18.is no way of putting in new housing. We see this across our whole region,
:33:18. > :33:22.not just in Portsmouth, where people cannot get on to the
:33:22. > :33:26.financial ladder to buy a home, cannot even afford to rent some of
:33:26. > :33:33.the homes and the private sector. What we do like to be done?
:33:33. > :33:39.idea we could look at is to look at council houses being bought through
:33:39. > :33:43.different ways. Mortgage lending, financial gain. We can do some of
:33:43. > :33:50.that, but it has not always been available. Earlier this year as
:33:50. > :33:53.well for the Housing Finance Bill we're basically now self financing.
:33:53. > :33:58.The government has done that after about 20 or 30 years of going
:33:58. > :34:02.through that. So some housing departments have got more money to
:34:02. > :34:06.do that, but not all councils can do that because they sold so many
:34:06. > :34:09.houses during the 1990s. You made it clear you signed up to this
:34:10. > :34:14.reluctantly. What will happen to waiting lists in your area?
:34:14. > :34:18.believe they will go up at last we keep on building. Luckily we do
:34:18. > :34:25.have a building programme and we do have room to borrow, but are the
:34:25. > :34:29.councils do not have that, do not even have land, where we do.
:34:29. > :34:33.Hopefully we can do up to 400 if not more in the next few years, but
:34:33. > :34:40.it is not going to be instant, and matters are worried. We have
:34:40. > :34:43.already seen more people coming in, but this gives us on average, we
:34:43. > :34:47.will only get back from the government about �4,000. And then
:34:48. > :34:54.they said we can only use 30% of that money to replace. You can't
:34:55. > :34:59.even get a cattle shed for that. David, it seems a crazy idea. OK,
:34:59. > :35:03.it is an expanded discount house to buy, but it will reduce the housing
:35:03. > :35:06.stock? It will, but we mustn't get away from the principle that this
:35:06. > :35:09.is about giving people the opportunity to own their own home,
:35:10. > :35:13.quite often for the first time. The enabling of that through this
:35:13. > :35:17.scheme is something that local authorities should not forget. Yes,
:35:17. > :35:22.there are challenges and councils such as ours are looking at where
:35:22. > :35:27.we can bring new affordable houses or part rent part by, which we have
:35:27. > :35:31.been doing. And also a local letting schemes, so people with a
:35:31. > :35:34.local connection which is particularly important to the Isle
:35:34. > :35:38.of Wight. I don't and we should forget what one of the major
:35:38. > :35:41.benefits is of right-to-buy, which is giving people their own home.
:35:41. > :35:47.But the way the economy is at the moment, there is no confidence. Who
:35:47. > :35:50.is going to get a mortgage at the moment? Nat is a fair point and
:35:50. > :35:54.they will not be a huge amount of this. But what we're saying is the
:35:54. > :35:57.opportunity should be there, and hopefully as the economy does
:35:57. > :36:02.recover, there will be opportunity to do that. And that will reduce
:36:02. > :36:06.the housing stock! Es but there is still a key role for the local
:36:06. > :36:11.authority in bringing forward more housing stock, using initiative and
:36:11. > :36:17.stock to do that. I appreciate it is more difficult in urban areas
:36:17. > :36:20.such as Portsmouth. But we are not able -- we are not in the same
:36:20. > :36:25.situation is that. There is still the right to acquire properties and
:36:25. > :36:28.funding is available. It is not just a right to acquire. With the
:36:28. > :36:34.housing benefit changes, you are getting rid of lifetime tenancies.
:36:34. > :36:37.People are basically being pushed to leave their houses. I think that
:36:38. > :36:41.is no bad thing. We need to recognise there are many on a
:36:41. > :36:44.housing lists who have a far greater need in terms of a young
:36:44. > :36:47.families than some of the people who have been in their properties
:36:47. > :36:53.for many years whose kids may have moved away and who are no longer in
:36:53. > :36:57.need of a three or four-bedroom house. Do you buy into this idea,
:36:57. > :37:01.Jo Lovelock? We are still looking at what our options are and what
:37:01. > :37:04.the government is going to allow us to do. The fundamental point is the
:37:04. > :37:11.amount of money we might get from this will not replace the lost
:37:11. > :37:15.stock. We used to have something like 12,000 council properties in
:37:15. > :37:18.Reading, now we're down to 7,000. And a waiting lists are growing. We
:37:18. > :37:25.need a proper approach to tackling homelessness and the long waiting
:37:25. > :37:28.lists. This will not do that. And we do not have the land in Reading
:37:28. > :37:32.on which to build the council housing. We do what we can, every
:37:32. > :37:38.available site is used for partnership with housing
:37:38. > :37:42.authorities or indeed some buildings. But we don't have a land
:37:42. > :37:48.bank on which we can replace the lost stock. So it will do nothing
:37:48. > :37:54.to help those people at the bottom of the housing ladder, if you like,
:37:54. > :37:57.who have no chance. But some of this council stock in Reading is
:37:57. > :38:02.high-maintenance, and maybe with that money you could build Deco
:38:02. > :38:08.homes, more affordable flats. you have to have the land to do it
:38:08. > :38:12.on. We are doing regeneration projects, we are building
:38:12. > :38:15.sustainable homes in partnership with others, but in order to
:38:15. > :38:21.increase the housing that is needed, particularly in the south-east, we
:38:21. > :38:24.need a much more fundamental change which enables councils to have
:38:24. > :38:31.powers with the private sector to improve that. That will be there
:38:31. > :38:34.for a long time and will need -- and will be needed by people.
:38:34. > :38:38.what will you say to those in government about sorting this out?
:38:38. > :38:41.I have listened to the ministers, I'm writing a letter about
:38:41. > :38:46.different schemes and how we can move things forward, not just
:38:46. > :38:49.looking at this failed scheme, about just sit in people being able
:38:49. > :38:53.to own properties and leaving the rest of society behind. Because
:38:53. > :38:57.that is what has happened. And again we have a problem with the
:38:57. > :39:02.stock, as you alluded to earlier. It tends to be the stock then no-
:39:02. > :39:08.one wants, which then you have to maintain. So these are the things I
:39:08. > :39:11.have taken up with the ministers already in government. It is
:39:11. > :39:15.difficult. One side is trying to listen, the other is very blinkered
:39:15. > :39:19.about where they want to go. Thanks very much.
:39:19. > :39:23.Now, it has seemed a bit this year that as long as you use the word
:39:23. > :39:26."Olympics" in your plan, it's been a case of money no object. At a
:39:26. > :39:29.time when general arts budgets have been cut back, funding for the
:39:29. > :39:32.Cultural Olympiad - the celebration of the arts that goes alongside the
:39:32. > :39:35.Games - has been a bit of a gold rush. But, as Tristan Pascoe
:39:35. > :39:38.reports from Dorset, there are worries about whether it's all been
:39:38. > :39:46.value for money, and about what happens to the arts when that pot
:39:46. > :39:51.of cash is empty. If you are looking for something to
:39:51. > :39:58.do between the 26th and 28th July, whatever you do, do not go to
:39:58. > :40:01.Weymouth. An unusual trail ahead of the Cultural Olympiad, but he does
:40:01. > :40:05.have a point. Thousands of people are expected to crowd the beaches
:40:05. > :40:10.in Weymouth ahead of the Olympic sailing events and their opening
:40:10. > :40:16.ceremonies. So apart from boats on the water, what is them -- their
:40:16. > :40:21.fed them to see? There will be films, a circus, a thousand voice
:40:21. > :40:27.choir singing new compositions, there will be spectacles in dance,
:40:27. > :40:30.music, we have a broad range of all disciplines. Thanks to the Olympics,
:40:30. > :40:39.there is Investment almost every way you look in this part of Dorset
:40:39. > :40:43.from stop --. The National Sailing Academy and even Weymouth tower and
:40:43. > :40:49.its observation platform. Thanks to the Cultural Olympiad, there is a
:40:49. > :40:52.raft of investment in the art seen locally. We have had a lot of
:40:52. > :40:56.investment from local authorities and other funders, local people
:40:56. > :41:00.getting involved, a lot of community engagement. It is a
:41:00. > :41:05.really exciting time. It has gone against the trend of austerity and
:41:05. > :41:07.a think it is a great thing to be celebrating. If more than �2.3
:41:07. > :41:14.million has been allocated to local projects under the umbrella of N
:41:14. > :41:20.Cultural Olympiad, including these deck chairs designed by local
:41:20. > :41:22.schoolchildren. Pupils at this arts college have varying degrees of
:41:22. > :41:26.special educational needs. Thanks to funding from the Arts Council,
:41:26. > :41:31.they will join hundreds of local schoolchildren in a spectacular
:41:31. > :41:34.performance for the opening ceremony on the beach. It is
:41:34. > :41:39.enormous for their social skills, just learning even basic things
:41:39. > :41:42.about dance and counting in rhythm, co-ordination. It is huge for them,
:41:42. > :41:47.really. It really helps with confidence as well, because they
:41:47. > :41:56.will be in front of a lot of people who are happy and supporting them.
:41:56. > :42:01.It does help them with that. We're having a brilliant time. But some
:42:01. > :42:05.projects like this one have proved controversial. This embodies the
:42:05. > :42:09.global potential of a new borderless nation. This is a
:42:09. > :42:13.floating visual sculpture that will be anchored off the port during the
:42:13. > :42:19.Olympics. It is several tons of material from an island exposed by
:42:19. > :42:24.a retreating glacier north of Norway, which the Arts Council
:42:24. > :42:27.hopes will open up a debate on global warming. However one south
:42:27. > :42:31.coast MPs' sense -- thinks the half a million quid the project is
:42:31. > :42:36.costing could be better spent. would much prefer to have seen
:42:36. > :42:42.individual artists, community arts centres, being supported with this
:42:42. > :42:45.money. Not this astonishing folly. When we make this commitment to
:42:45. > :42:49.invest this money, there was a lot more money around. There isn't so
:42:49. > :42:53.much funding now and if we were to look at a project like this, we
:42:53. > :42:59.would probably look at something very different. Trouble is, even at
:42:59. > :43:06.the best of times, funding for the arts divides opinion. It has to be
:43:06. > :43:11.supported, yes. It should fund itself. If people are so pushed the
:43:11. > :43:15.money, maybe money should go into better places like policing and the
:43:15. > :43:19.usual - healthcare and the rest of it. I think it has to be protected
:43:19. > :43:23.but not increased. If you lose your arts you lose your culture. Recent
:43:23. > :43:29.history suggests a funding increase is the last thing that will happen.
:43:29. > :43:34.Many organisations have had grants reduced or even cut altogether. So,
:43:34. > :43:38.once the Olympics have sailed away, will the funding go with them?
:43:38. > :43:42.arts and culture more widely a really important for the well-being
:43:42. > :43:46.of young people who are learning skills through art engagement,
:43:46. > :43:50.through music, through being part of something they enjoy. Again we
:43:50. > :43:53.really need to keep that at the front of the government's mind so
:43:53. > :44:03.they don't think about cutting investment in the creative centre
:44:03. > :44:05.
:44:05. > :44:15.just at a time when you need creativity and entrepreneurs.
:44:15. > :44:15.
:44:15. > :44:19.is a voice of doom! David Pugh, this island, �0.5 million, it looks
:44:19. > :44:26.like the Arts Council wishes they haven't spent -- they hadn't spent
:44:26. > :44:31.that money. It may should have come to us. We have a proper island!
:44:31. > :44:35.have new roads coming. Yes, we have a long cultural history with
:44:35. > :44:40.carnivals and that sort of activity, we would have been more than happy
:44:40. > :44:44.to host that. It is a shame when these ideas, however ambitious they
:44:44. > :44:52.beat, come to fruition. Because ultimately what is going to, that?
:44:52. > :44:56.Yes, it is an island, but I suppose, Jo Lovelock, it is highlighting
:44:56. > :45:01.climate change. And if it does what we think it does, it doesn't matter
:45:01. > :45:05.about the housing market. Well, you could argue that money could have
:45:05. > :45:08.been spent on things to do with fuel poverty or new green
:45:08. > :45:11.technology. But I don't want to, particularly on that because I
:45:11. > :45:16.don't know enough about it. But in Reading we certainly use the
:45:16. > :45:22.opportunity to bring together people from right across the arts
:45:22. > :45:24.spectrum to network and make bids together for projects that have
:45:24. > :45:29.really enables particularly young people but not just young people to
:45:29. > :45:34.get involved in all sorts of projects. You would say it's good
:45:34. > :45:38.to have creative ideas at a time of austerity? Particularly investing
:45:38. > :45:47.in the community activities and activities with young people which
:45:47. > :45:54.we can all celebrate and had fully will lead to ongoing opportunities.
:45:54. > :46:04.-- and hopefully. Now, our regular round-up of the political week in
:46:04. > :46:06.
:46:06. > :46:10.On the early train to the south Monday morning, arriving at
:46:10. > :46:16.Southampton, and the new station. This is Justine Greening who is
:46:16. > :46:24.still keen on a high-speed line. it is fundamental to our country's
:46:24. > :46:27.future. It rained all week and the flooding in Worthing flush out
:46:27. > :46:32.another Cabinet Minister, Caroline Spelman. The sheer volume of rain
:46:32. > :46:36.that fell from the Skype - almost two months worth of it. Some
:46:36. > :46:41.residents claim coastal defences have made it worse. I just saw a
:46:41. > :46:50.digger cutting a hole in the Barry out there. It is pouring out of
:46:50. > :46:53.there like a plant in the bath. Back in the barrier. And a wet --
:46:53. > :46:59.at Westminster they were trying out a new sport you can play in the
:46:59. > :47:05.rain. Cage cricket is being piloted in Portsmouth. And some reckoned
:47:05. > :47:15.they could hit the ball away to the coast.
:47:15. > :47:16.
:47:16. > :47:24.Page cricket! I might relegate that to my deputy. Justine Greening was
:47:24. > :47:27.talking about high-speed rail. as a council have worked hard to
:47:27. > :47:33.secure particularly the Investment for Reading station which is
:47:33. > :47:37.happening as we speak. It's the jobs and the money but also just
:47:37. > :47:40.improving the facilities. Absolutely, it has been a
:47:40. > :47:46.bottleneck on the national network for many years. So it will improve
:47:46. > :47:50.that but also make it better far can the knitters -- for our
:47:50. > :47:56.commuters, and bring jobs locally. And you have got infrastructure
:47:56. > :48:00.spending on the island. Yes, we have a highway scheme next year but
:48:00. > :48:06.on top of that we have just got �4 million for sustainable transport,
:48:06. > :48:09.which is improving facilities for walking and cycling. We had to get
:48:09. > :48:12.more people coming to the island and taking part in that. Anything
:48:13. > :48:16.about infrastructure that helps people move around better has to be
:48:16. > :48:21.good for the economy. And of course it creates jobs in the actual work
:48:21. > :48:26.improving it. It makes you think - in the structure is not as trains
:48:26. > :48:31.and cars, it can be walking. That's both of you. That's the end of our
:48:31. > :48:36.show this week. Many thanks to our guests, Jo Lovelock and David Pugh.